{"id":15738,"date":"2014-12-11T16:40:16","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T00:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=15738"},"modified":"2014-12-11T16:45:37","modified_gmt":"2014-12-12T00:45:37","slug":"the-complete-history-of-comedy-abridged-marin-theatre-company-mill-valley-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/the-complete-history-of-comedy-abridged-marin-theatre-company-mill-valley-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complete History of Comedy (abridged), Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Marin Theatre Company<\/em><\/p>\n

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From left: Reed Martin, Dominic Conti, Austin Tichenor<\/p><\/div>\n

Nouveau Vaudeville Meets Rambozo the Clown<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Written, directed and performed by The Reduced Shakespeare Company (Austin Tichenor <\/strong>and Reed Martin, <\/strong>with able-bodied help from Dominic Conti<\/strong>), \u201cThe Complete History of Comedy (abridged)\u201d is comedy for grown-ups – part primer, part clownfest, part tribute – clever, smart and funny, slyly deceptive and irreverent. First released on an unsuspecting Cincinnati audience in November 2013, it\u2019s a series of loosely connected sketches built on the premise that Sun Tzu (pronounced Choo), author of \u201cThe Art of War\u201d, had a brother named Ah Tzu who secretly wrote his own book, \u201cThe Art of Comedy\u201d. The books\u2019 parallels to theatre are clear: War is tragedy, after all, and comedy the eternal opposite. If war can destroy the world, comedy can save it.<\/p>\n

The Reduced Shakespeare Company certainly knows how to make an impression. They\u2019ve appeared at the Kennedy Center, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and theaters in Sonoma, New York City and London, garnering nominations for the Olivier Award, Helen Hayes Award and San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle<\/strong>Awards. And they know how to get all the right kind of attention, too. Case in point: An earlier show, \u201cThe Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)\u201d was all set to perform in January 2014 in Northern Ireland when local public officials objected to the show\u2019s \u201cblasphemous\u201d subject matter and voted to cancel it. The public demanded the show must go on, and go on it did. The uproar and publicity resulted in an even more successful run than any had imagined. The show was a smash hit in its UK tour.<\/p>\n

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Austin Tichenor<\/p><\/div>\n

These merry pranksters of the stage take their comedy very, very seriously, invoking the spirit of vaudeville and Saturday Night Live, with snippets of Commedia dell\u2019Arte, Firesign Theatre, Chaplin, Seinfeld, Second City and Monty Python gleefully tossed into the mix. And the show includes a real slapstick (if you’ve never seen one in use, now\u2019s your chance).<\/p>\n

Occasionally brilliant, relentlessly intense, fast and furious pacing; the troupe makes good use of the entire stage. The three work as one unit, ricocheting lines \u2013 and cream pies – off of each other. \u00a0No one is spared, and nearly every sacred cow is butchered. Audience participation and improv add to the fun. And if you don\u2019t watch out, you just might learn something along the way, in between the belly laughs.<\/p>\n

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From left: Reed Martin, Dominic Conti, Austin Tichenor<\/p><\/div>\n

When: now through December 21, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

8 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays<\/strong><\/p>\n

7:30 p.m. Wednesdays <\/strong><\/p>\n

2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

2 p.m. Saturday, December 20<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tickets: $37 to $58<\/strong><\/p>\n

Location: Marin Theatre Company<\/strong><\/p>\n

397 Miller Avenue<\/strong>, Mill Valley CA<\/strong> 94941<\/strong>
\nPhone: 415-388-5208 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Website: <\/strong>www.marintheatre.org<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo Members, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Photos courtesy of Marin Theatre Company Nouveau Vaudeville Meets Rambozo the Clown Written, directed and performed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-greg-suzanne-angeo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"